


legend has it that the moss grows on the north side of the trees

by reptilianraven



Series: Webb Hill Farm [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Fantasy Elements Fuckery, Comedy, Fluff, Humor, Mystery, Other, Romance, Supernatural Elements, exploring the weirdness that is the canon stardew valley setting, the relationship territory known as 'taking it slow'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven
Summary: “A meteor crash landed on your farm, forest spirits fixed the bridge north of town because you gave them produce, and you’re starting to hear the trees speak to you in your dreams,” Harvey counts off on his fingers. “Don’t you think all of that is, well, even a little bit out of the ordinary?”“Huh,” Ronnie says. “I mean, now that you say it like that, it absolutely is.”“How did you not notice?” Harvey sounds slightly pained.Ronnie shrugs. “Well, I’ve been busy being in love with you.”Harvey puts his face into his hands and groans. But it’s an affectionate groan and Ronnie can very much see the blush on his face. Score.-Ronnie and Harvey are Not Dating Yet but they have a Mutual Understanding of their reciprocated romantic feelings and they are Taking It Slow. It’s pretty great.It’s so great that it distracts Ronnie very much and they have trouble realizing things are....weird, to say the least, about Stardew Valley, Pelican Town, and oddly enough, themself.Or: a romantic comedy love story that’s also a supernatural mystery.
Relationships: Harvey/Farmer, Harvey/Original Character
Series: Webb Hill Farm [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122200
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. a good day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a sequel to “that’s what seasons do”, the first fic in this series, but this can technically be read as a standalone i guess. all you need to know is that oberon "ronnie" webb is my farmer oc, they finished their 1st year, and they and harvey have romantic feelings for each other that they both know and theyre both Taking It Slow. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!!!

Ronnie has always been different from other people. They know this very early on. They do not like the sound of cars, they do not like the crowds of the city. They love the embrace of their Mom and Dad but jerks away from the touches of anybody else. They do not laugh when other people laugh, they do not cry when other people cry. They can spend hours looking out the window, staring at the horizon, at the farther forests that are so far away from the city, and they yearn for something they don’t understand. 

Strange Ronnie, odd Ronnie, Oberon “Weirdo” Webb. These were all names and sayings that followed Ronnie throughout their entire life, and they tried. They really tried. They tried to fit in and act like everybody else, but all that got them were years of misery and boredom and feeling very much like a puzzle piece that doesn’t belong. 

When Grandpa died, Ronnie had not cried. But months later when they open their letter and read what he had left them, the tears fall from their face. 

Grandpa had given Ronnie a farm, a purpose, a community to have a new start with.

And those things, one way or another, had given them Harvey. 

Despite a long day of working hard on the farm—it was the first day of spring and there was quite a lot to do—Ronnie finds themself smiling in bed. They cuddle their pillow thinking about him, about Harvey who thinks Ronnie is strange and odd and weird and likes them for it, likes them for who they are. 

Ronnie drifts off to sleep, the memory of Harvey’s strong hand gently holding theirs.

And they dream.

-

_Oberon._

Ronnie is in a forest.

_Oberon._

They are surrounded by lush fauna, trees everywhere the eye can see. Through the canopy, the rays of sunlight filter through. The air is cool and silent and Ronnie closes their eyes.

_Oberon._

Ronnie opens their eyes and looks around, puzzled. There is a voice speaking to them, but they cannot see anybody around. 

_Our child, Oberon, you’ve come back to us._

“Nobody calls me Oberon but Mom when she’s upset,” Ronnie says to the forest. “Where are you?”

_You’re not like them, Oberon._

“I’ve heard that one before,” Ronnie laughs. “Why can’t I see you?”

 _Come home, Oberon_.

Ronnie tilts their head. “I don’t understand.”

_Come home._

Roots come up from the ground, growing at light speed and crawling through the ground. Ronnie stumbles back and falls, engulfed by the growth with not an ounce of fear in their mind. They just let the forest take them. They close their eyes and—

Ronnie shoots up in their bed. 6:00am, on the dot, as always. 

“Huh,” Ronnie says, thinking about the dream. “Weird.”

Then they get to work thinking about other things altogether. They’ve got cows to milk.

-

It’s noon by the time Ronnie is done with farm chores. They pet Ango’s head and tells him “take care of the farm while I’m gone, Ango, I’m bringing a special guest later” to which Ango replies with an adorable head tilt of their doggy head. Ronnie takes Orchard from the stable and rides out into town, stops by the Saloon to buy a fresh cup of hot coffee, then goes over to the clinic with a growing warmth in their chest. 

“Gus-bought coffee for you, Doc,” Ronnie says, hanging Harvey his coffee over the counter. “Once I get this spring’s harvest, you best expect more pickled vegetables from me, though.”

“Thank you, and I’m very much looking forward to that,” Harvey takes the coffee with a soft blush coloring his face.

“Hey, are you free later?” Ronnie asks.

Harvey raises one eyebrow, something of a smirk on his lips. “Is this you asking me out on a date.”

“Nah,” Ronnie grins. “I’ve decided that I’m going to leave our first date up to you, when you’re ready. This is me asking if you’d like to hang out. I’d love to show you around the farm.”

“That sounds lovely, Ronnie,” Harvey says so earnestly and Ronnie’s heart all but melts. “Meet me back here when I close up the clinic?”

“Sure thing, Doc,” Ronnie says, taking their leave.

Once they’re outside the clinic, they do a little fist pump at the sky.

Ronnie does some errands around town—cracks open some geodes at Clint’s, donates some minerals to the museum, has some idle chat with Jas and Vincent when they pass by and ask about Orchard—and Ronnie feels a little bit like a giddy teenager waiting excitedly for their prom date. They ride back to the clinic at 3 o’clock on the dot right as Harvey is locking up the clinic.

“Hello, Orchard,” Harvey pets Orchard on the face. “Nice to see you again when Ronnie isn’t on the verge of hypothermia.”

“No hello for me?” Ronnie teases.

Harvey puts a hand on his hip and faux rolls his eyes. “Hello to you too, Ronnie.”

“Hey, Doc,” Ronnie smiles. They scooch forward in the saddle and jerk their head back. “Hop on.”

“Er,” Harvey says nervously. “I’ve never ridden a horse before.”

“I’ll be doing all the work,” Ronnie extends their hand to Harvey. “Just hold onto me and I’ll keep you safe. Promise.”

Harvey’s anxiety wanes at the gesture, and he takes Ronnie’s hand with a sure grip. 

Riding Orchard has always been nice—Ronnie has always loved the sensation of the fresh wind rushing past their face—but riding Orchard with a certain small town doctor with their arms around Ronnie’s waist holding tight is definitely a superlative of “great” and “he’s warm” and “aaaaaaa.” How Ronnie manages not to steer Orchard into a bush is beyond them, though maybe Orchard just senses that Ronnie’s mind is a little bit occupied right now and he just steers all by himself.

“Welcome to Webb Hill farm, Doc,” Ronnie says, dismounting off of Orchard and helping Harvey down. “It’s not much, but I work hard on it everyday.”

“Ronnie,” Harvey says, looking at the field of planted seeds, at the lush wall of trees surrounding the produce area, at the glittering waters of the nearby pond. “It’s beautiful. I’ve been here before, but last time I didn’t truly look, but it’s clear to me now that you put heart into this place.”

“Heart and the occasional swear word here and there,” Ronnie laughs. They whistle loudly and Ango comes running in from where he was lounging in the trees. Ango sits in front of Ronnie and Harvey, tongue lolling happily. “This is my farm assistant, Ango. You can pet him.”

“We’ve met before, actually,” Harvey crouches down and gives Ango some thorough neck scritches. Harvey looks up at Ronnie. “Did you bring him from the city?”

“Oh no, he was a stray,” Ronnie laughs, crouching down along with Harvey. Ango flops over on his back and Harvey and Ronnie dutifully give him belly rubs. “Just showed up one day at my door. Just like me.”

“Just like you?” Harvey asks, curious.

“I was adopted,” Ronnie says, petting Ango’s soft fur. “Biological parents went missing, I never really looked into it. My adoptive parents loved me all the same, for all my quirks that nobody else appreciated.”

Harvey gently takes Ronnie’s hand, running his thumb over their fingers. “I like your quirks.”

“T-thanks,” Ronnie says, feeling their face warm up.

Ango whines at the fact that they’ve stopped petting him and he stands and bounds off into the trees once again.

“So,” Ronnie stands and pulls Harvey up. Harvey doesn’t let go of their hand and Ronnie doesn’t let go either. “Let me tour you?”

Harvey squeezes Ronnie’s hand. “I’d love that.”

Ronnie takes their time. Usually, when they’re on the farm, they never stop moving, always working double time to make the most out of the day’s seconds. Now though, they let themself relax as they show Harvey around. They bring him to the planted crops, points out which rows are which plants and how long it will take before they’re ready for harvest. They bring him down to the southwest corner of the farm, this huge plot of empty land filled with small growing trees or planted acorns, pinecones, and mahogany seeds, and tell him how once all the trees are grown, they’re planning on cutting down a path and a clearing in the trees for a secret garden of flowers. The entire time, Harvey quietly listens to Ronnie talk, asking interested questions here and there, and Harvey’s silences have always felt comfortable to Ronnie, peaceful like a clear sky. Ronnie doesn’t need words to know that Harvey is having a nice time. They can see it in his smile. In his eyes.

“And over here—” Ronnie takes him to the northwest corner of the farm, gesturing to their animals grazing in the lush grass. “—is the area for my farm animals and—”

“Er, Ronnie,” Harvey says, voice sounding strange. 

“Yeah, Doc?” Ronnie looks to Harvey and follows his gaze to—oh yeah.

“What is that?” Harvey asks, looking at the giant purple meteor nestled in the grass of the grazing area.

“A meteor,” Ronnie says.

“A...meteor.”

“A meteor.”

“Where did it come from?” Harvey asks as they both lean against the hardwood fence of the grazing area. Harvey looks at the meteor with mixed both fascination and wariness.

“Above,” Ronnie shrugs. “Crash landed here back in the winter in the middle of the night. My pickaxe isn’t strong enough to crack it open yet, so it’s still here, but I kind of like it. Looks cool.”

“Cool and infinitesimally rare—Aah! don’t touch it!” 

Ronnie freezes from where they were about to poke the the meteor. “Huh? Why not?”

“We have no idea what kind of extraterrestrial pathogens it has!”

“You can give me a tetanus shot for it.”

“Ronnie, it’s from outer space.”

“...Two tetanus shots?”

Harvey sighs, but he’s smiling, amused. He says, “Oh, Yoba help me.”

That makes Ronnie twitch a bit. “You a believer?” They ask as nonchalantly as they can.

“Not really,” Harvey says, petting Pappy the cow who has come close to the fence. “Didn’t have very religious parents, but sayings just stick. Why, you?”

“Lapsed,” Ronnie says. They take Harvey’s hand again and pulls them into the grazing area to where the chickens are. Effortlessly, they segue the conversation. “Anyway, here are my chickens. Mozzy, Cam, Eden, and Eva. They’re all named after cheeses, except for Eva, who’s named after a type of foam, which could basically be a cheese if you tried hard enough.”

“The more I learn about you the more I worry about your health.”

Ronnie shows Harvey their cabin last. It’s not the fanciest place, given how there are still no overhead lights, but Harvey assures them that he doesn’t mind. He just sits comfortably at the singular table and looks at Ronnie’s floor to ceiling fishtank, a single sardine swimming around. 

“Here’s some tea,” Ronnie gives Harvey a mug and sits down across from him with their own mug. “Made from last season’s forage. Crystal fruit tea has a very refreshing taste.”

“Thank you,” Harvey says, taking a sip. They set the mug down and he slowly reaches over the table for Ronnie’s hand. They’ve always been hit or miss, with people touching them, but Harvey’s touch is always so tentative, so gentle. “Thank you for the tea and thank you for today. I’ve had a wonderful time.”

“Really?” Ronnie asks. All they’d done was show Harvey around.

“Really,” And Ronnie knows that Harvey means it. “You’re like nobody I’ve ever met, you know that? You just...you own being you.”

“I didn’t always,” Ronnie says softly. “I tried to be like other people. Tried to fit in, do what was expected. Guess where that got me?”

“Where?”

“A miserable three year stint being an accountant for Joja Corp.”

“Oh no,” Harvey winces.

“Oh yes,” Ronnie breathes out a laugh. “That was the job that made me realize that I couldn't do that anymore. I couldn’t live in the city, I couldn’t work that horrible job, I couldn’t be what people wanted me to be. When I moved here, I told myself that I was through with that. And that choice has been the best I’ve made in my whole life. Look at what being myself did.” They squeeze Harvey’s hand. “It gave me you.”

“And what an honor it is—” Harvey smiles, so beautiful, so true. “—That I have you as well.”

Despite the darkening sky outside, Ronnie feels as if they’re made of light. 

The comfortable silence is broken though when Ango comes in through the doggy door and yawns, curling up into a ball on the rug. 

“It’s getting late, I should get you home,” Ronnie stands and Harvey does the same.

“I can walk, I don’t want to impose—”

“Doc,” Ronnie says. “I’d really love to give you a ride back home.”

Harvey quirks a lopsided smile. “What a gentleman, Ronnie Webb.”

“For you? Always.”

They ride back into town under the dark night sky. Twinkling stars look down on them and the moon shines her lunar light on the path. Harvey holds onto Ronnie, not so tightly this time, but still firm. Harvey holds onto Ronnie like Ronnie is something worth keeping. They get to the clinic before 10pm and Harvey clambers off of Orchard, looking up at Ronnie.

“Good night, Doc,” Ronnie says. “I had a great day.”

“Me too, Ronnie,” Harvey smiles, and Ronnie will never get tired of seeing that.

“Well,” Ronnie coughs. “I better get ba—”

Harvey reaches, slowly, as he always does, for Ronnie’s hand. Ronnie releases their hold from the rein and lets Harvey hold their hand.

“Good night, Ronnie,” Harvey presses a kiss to their fingers and makes Ronnie’s heart burst into warmth before finally entering the clinic for the night.

Ronnie feels that warmth in their chest the entire ride back to the farm. They feel it the entire time they’re getting ready for bed. They’re pretty sure they feel that warmth lull them to a gentle sleep.

And they dream.

-

_Oberon._

Ronnie’s in the strange forest again. They sigh, looking up at the thick canopy, and say “I’d like a dream with Doc actually. No offense.”

 _None taken_ , The spectral voice replies. _But do you wish to know your true self, Oberon?_

“I don’t know what that means,” Ronnie says, at a loss. 

The roots are beginning to crawl out of the ground again.

_Then come home, Oberon. Come to us._

“What is home? Who is ‘us’?” Ronnie says evenly as the roots come up to swallow them alive. “Who am—”

The roots take Ronnie down down down.

“Who am I?”

-

Ronnie shoots up in their bed. 6:00am, on the dot, as always. 

These dreams are getting more and more weird, but Ronnie doesn’t dwell on it too long. They’ve got chickens to pet and a small town doctor to woo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from The Moss by Cosmo Sheldrake
> 
> im [actualbird](http://actualbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!!!


	2. flower dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Alright, Oberon._ The voice says. _Let’s play this your way_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this entire chapter in like 4 hours like a madman. sdv fixation is so powerful
> 
> content warning for uh, vague forest horror? i have a suuuuuuper low threshhold for horror, so im sure that this is weenie hut junior level horror, but it is quite dreadful and it puts ronnie Very on edge. 
> 
> also, i shouldve mentioned this earlier, but i dont have a beta reader, i just write and then immediately chuck it out into the ao3 tag. any and all typos are between me and yoba.
> 
> i hope you enjoy!!!

Ronnie’s relationship with the spiritual or religious or anything that required some kind of faith was a little bit complicated. Ronnie’s parents weren’t exactly devout, but they were a little bit to the left of being believers of Yoba. Afterall, back when Ronnie still was a believer, back when they were a kid, the would always ask Mom to tell them the story of how she and Dad had got them. Ronnie would cuddle up in their blanket, hug their favorite stuffed bear to their chest, and listen with wide eyes as Mom told them the story.

“The night we found you,” Mom started the story as she always did. “There was a terrible storm. The lightning and thunder rumbled with anger, the rain came down with a vengeance, and the winds were so powerful you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. Your father and I, we wondered what had made Yoba so upset, as we ran through the downpour back home. And you know what we saw at the foot of our door?”

Ronnie would grin, as they always did. “What, Mom?”

“A little basket with a baby inside, swaddled in fine cloths,” Mom would tuck Ronnie into their blanket. “No note, no letter, no nothing. Just you.” Mom would tap Ronnie’s nose, making them giggle. “Perfect little you.”

“What happened next, Mom?”

“Well, your father and I had come to get you, and the moment we picked you up, the moment I held you in my arms,” Mom said. “The storm had stopped. It was as if it was worried about you. As if Yoba themself would not rest until they knew you had found people to love you.”

It was a good bedtime story, but then Ronnie grew up. They went through the terrible pains of growing up in a Yoba believing high school, they learned about the institusional mess that was the Church of Yoba, and ultimately, they realized that believing in Yoba wasn’t for them. Ronnie had left Yoba in the past, left Yoba to stay as a bedtime story. 

They hadn’t really thought about other religions, after that, but these days, Ronnie has taken to using the ancient computer in the library to research about local Pagan religion that used to be predominant in Stardew Valley. Dasoism, it’s called. The religion of the Forest, the worship of forest spirits and creatures, the belief that the forest was alive; a beating heart of a being that demanded respect and veneration, a living soul that was constantly reaching out to humans and communicating with them.

Ronnie thinks about their dreams lately, how the forest is constantly speaking to them, and wonders if faith doesn’t care about people believing in them. Ronnie wonders if faith sometimes will grip people and pull them into the world no matter what. Ronnie wonders if bedtime stories can be some kind of reality. 

“ _Hello_ , Ronnie,” Pierre says, shocking Ronnie out of the thoughts they were thinking while shopping. Pierre has a smug grin on his face and Ronnie does not like it one bit. 

“Parsnip seeds,” Ronnie says, unloading their metric fuckton of aforementioned parsnip seeds onto the counter. Ronnie hopes the parsnip seeds are enough to avoid conversation with Pierre. Which, not because they hate him or anything. Ronnie just doesn’t like the man’s vibes. 

“A lot of seeds, here, Ronnie. You saving up for something? A gift for somebody?” Pierre says as he counts through the packs of seeds, but his smug grin doesn’t leave his face. 

“What?” Ronnie blinks, lost.

“You know,” Pierre says. “This is a pretty small town, so word gets around quite fast.”

“Okay?” Ronnie is still lost.

“Everybody knows that you’ve been getting close to a certain Doctor Harvey.”

Ah. “Yeah, so?”

“If you want him to know you’re romantically interested in him, you should buy him a bouquet.” Pierre smiles, and it looks kind, but there’s something that annoys Ronnie about him anyway. “Only I sell the loveliest selection.”

“If I want him to kno—” Ronnie shakes their head. “He already knows.”

“But does he know you’re _serious_.” Pierre raises an eyebrow.

What? “What?”

“Buy a bouquet, Ronnie,” Pierre smirks, handing Ronnie their paper bag filled with parsnip seeds. “It’ll be worth it.”

“Parsnip seeds,” Ronnie says instead of saying thank you, because this conversation does not feel like something Pierre deserves thanks for. “Bye now.”

And then Ronnie all but vigorously brisk walks out of the general store.

-

Ronnie has other things to think about. Things like trees talking to them in their dreams, y’know, important stuff, but what Pierre said sticks in Ronnie’s head. 

Does Harvey know Ronnie is serious?

Surely, he must know. Ronnie and Harvey are on the same page, they had talked about it like adults. Orchard had even bore witness to this, and yet, in Ronnie’s heart, a flicker of doubt. Ronnie lays in their bed, thinking about this spring, how lately they’ve often been hanging out in Harvey’s apartment, how Harvey often drops by the farm and spends his afternoon there, how they’ve always enjoyed each other’s company together, but also how they’ve always been alone. A bouquet is more of a spectacle, more of something everybody can see, and does Harvey want that? Is that what being serious means?

Ronnie doesn’t like sleeping as much, these days. Their dreams are always the same and they’re starting to wear on Ronnie, how cryptic they are, but there’s only so long Ronnie can keep their eyes open.

Sleep washes over them, wave after wave over the shore of Ronnie’s mind until they’re no longer in their bed, but in the familiar forest that plagues their dreams.

Right on cue, right as Ronnie opens their eyes to their dreamscape, the voice speaks.

_Oberon._

“I know, I know,” Ronnie sighs as they plop down to sit on the forest floor. “You want me to come home to you guys, and ‘know my true self’ but you won’t give me any answers Y’know, it’d be easier for the both of us if you gave me, I don’t know, directions?”

The wind rushes through the trees, whistling softly as it rustles through the leaves of the canopy.

 _Alright, Oberon._ The voice says. _Let’s play this your way_.

“Wait, really?” Ronnie straightens.

 _Assist the Junimos in their desires_.

Ronnie stands, darting their gaze around as they listen. “Yeah, okay, I was planning on doing that anyway. What else?”

_Tend the Webb Hill Farm with honor and duty._

“Got it,” Ronnie nods, wishing they had a face to speak back to. Alas, there is nothing but the roots on the forest floor beginning to wind around their ankles. “What else?” 

_And_ , the voice says, _bring us the good doctor_.

“What?” Ronnie’s heart stops. They try to take a step back, but the roots hold them in place. “What does Doc have anything to do with this?”

_The good doctor is essential to your Returning, Oberon._

“No,” Ronnie struggles against the roots for the first time. “Leave him out of whatever this is.”

_All transactions need payment._

“He’s not payment, he’s a person.” Ronnie’s breath is ragged as the roots begin to crawl up their body, constraining them.

_Come home to us, Oberon._

“What if I don’t want to!” Ronnie yells as the roots devour them.

And then, darkness.

Ronnie wakes up. 

-

Ronnie didn’t quite understand the Flower Dance, their first year here, but to be fair, the first year they were here, everybody was still essentially a stranger. Now, they’re very thankful for the distraction from whatever the hell last night’s dream was. Seeing all the townsfolk out and about and mingling is a welcome sight. Everybody is happy under a clear spring sky.

Well, mostly everybody.

“Guh,” Shane says, standing next to where Ronnie was watching everybody from the side. He has his hand on his stomach and he croaks “I may have had too much of the sauce.”

Ronnie raises an eyebrow. “Was it at least good?”

“It was fuckin’ delicious,” Shane says gravely before groaning. 

Ronnie didn’t expect to be friends with Shane. Sure, they had told themself that they wanted to know more of the townsfolk, but Shane warming up to them was a surprise. Shane’s rudeness slipped off of Ronnie like water off of a duck, and so Ronnie just kept gifting them fruits because they were damn worried about Shane getting scurvy what with how beer is the only thing Shane ever orders from the saloon. After enough fruits and rude jabs effortlessly accepted, Shane started to open up. He’s still a jerk, but as far as Ronnie is concerned, he’s their jerk.

“Where’s that doctor of yours when you need him,” Shane says. “Is he the type to carry around antacids in his coat?”

“I’m not sure, actually,” Ronnie says. “But he’s probably on the way. I’ll ask him, when he’s here.”

“You do that,” Shane says. He’s silent for a moment before he looks at Ronnie, meeting Ronnie’s gaze with his own. “He treating you well?”

“Yeah, he is.” Ronnie smiles, feeling the familiar warmth of love bloom in their chest. “Very, very well.”

“Good,” Shane nods, crossing his arms. “I wouldn’t be above hitting him over the head with a bottle, if he wasn’t.”

Ronnie breathes out a soft laugh. “Please don’t talk about my friend like that.”

“Friend?” Shane whips his head to look at Ronnie again, and his expression is confused. “I thought you two were an item already?”

“We are,” Ronnie says. “We just aren’t.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means we have a mutual understanding of reciprocated romantic feelings.”

“But you’re just friends,” Shane’s eyebrows scrunch up. “So what, he isn’t serious about this?”

“He is,” Ronnie says, completely sure.

Shane looks at Ronnie and says, “Are you?”

“I am, I—” Ronnie, all of a sudden, doesn’t like this conversation. Their words fall out of their mouth, clumsy and messy “Of course I am, we’re just taking it slow, but I’m serious, and I—I—”

“Woah, woah,” Shane puts his hands up placatingly. “Ronnie, dude, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine, I just—” Ronnie stops themself and takes a deep breath. “I’m going to go wait for Doc by the cliff, okay? See you.”

Ronnie walks away before Shane can anything else, making their way to the fenced off cliff that leads away from the clearing and towards Cindersnap Forest. 

Ronnie sighs, looking past the cliff’s edge, towards the ocean that stretches on and on and on. They wonder just what the townsfolk think of them. Sure, they tell them that they’ve been a good help to the community, they’re all mostly kind and friendly to them, but when Ronnie isn’t around, do the others think they’re...flighty? Ronnie knows everybody thinks highly of Harvey, so they wonder if the townsfolk think that they’re just some fickle young thing stringing the Harvey along. They wonder if _Harvey_ thinks that.

Ronnie is serious about their relationship with Harvey, no matter what label or non-label it has, but if making that clear means letting everybody know, then so be it. They’re in this for the long run, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes.

“Ronnie!” Harvey calls from a few feet away. Ronnie turns and watches him walk to them, gorgeous under the spring sunlight. When he’s next to them, he opens his hand, and Ronnie slots their fingers together with a smile. “Why aren’t you with the others?” 

“Was thinking about something,” Ronnie says. “Doc, how do you feel about public displays of romantic behaviors and actions?”

Harvey has a bemused smile on his face, “I’m fine with it, I guess, as long as it’s nothing risque. Why?”

“Noted,” Ronnie says, pulling Harvey to the clearing with the rest of the townsfolk. “Just wanted to be sure you’d be alright with this.”

“Alright with wha—Oh, sweet Yesus.”

“Doc,” Ronnie says from where they’ve just gotten down on one knee, holding Harvey’s hand tenderly. This time, it’s Ronnie who presses a soft kiss to Harvey’s knuckles, and Harvey all but combusts into a blush. Around them, there are “awwww”s from some of the women and a “Get it, Ronnie!” from Shane and a “Pierre, why didn’t you ever do something like that when we were younger?” from Caroline, but Ronnie ignores them all. Their eyes are on Harvey’s awed ones as they ask their question. “Will you dance with me?”

“Oh, Ronnie,” Harvey smiles, shy but wonderful all the same. “Of course.”

Then Harvey pulls Ronnie up from the ground and gives them a hug which Ronnie all but melts into. 

“Well!” Mayor Lewis claps his hands together. “I think I’m legally obligated, after a display like that, to say that it’s time to begin the dance!”

“Shall we?” Harvey mumbles into Ronnie’s neck, the both of them still hugging.

“One more sec, Doc,” Ronnie says, squeezing him one last time before pulling away. “Alright. Now I’m ready. I don’t actually know how this dance goes, actually.”

“It goes awkwardly. Horrendously so,” Harvey says. “But it’s awkward enough that you should be able to figure out the steps by watching everybody else.”

“Sounds like a dream come true,” Ronnie says. And they mean it.

-

Later, when the dancing is over and the eating has begun, Ronnie and Harvey mingle with the rest of the townsfolk for a while—people congratulating them first on how they’re dating, and after either Harvey or Ronnie corrects them, whoever they’re speaking to just decides to congratulate the both of them on whatever it is they’ve got going on right now—before settling on a picnic blanket in the corner of the clearing. Together, they idly eat red jelly in little bowls and watch the sky begin to turn a soft shade of orange. 

“A toast?” Ronnie gestures with their bowl.

“To what?” Harvey asks, amused.

“To showing everybody in town I’m serious about you,” Ronnie says, a bit quiet, looking down into the red jelly. “Showing _you_ I’m serious about you.”

Harvey gently taps his bowl against Ronnie’s and Ronnie looks up to see Harvey looking at them with all softness in the world.

“Ronnie,” Harvey says, voice gentle. “I’ve always known you were serious about us. I’ve known from the beginning. Today was wonderful, what you did was lovely, but you don’t have to prove anything to me. I know when you mean something, because you’re always honest about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Ronnie clutches their bowl. “I got worried and...I’m not good with words, sometimes. A lot of the time, actually. I’m not good with unsaid messages or subtle implications and I just...I don’t know.”

“Tell you what,” Harvey scooches closer to where Ronnie is sitting, nudging them with his elbow. “When I’m feeling something, when something is bothering me, I promise to tell you. No unsaid things here, alright? If what you need is clarity, I’ll give it, because I know you’ll always give it back.”

“I will,” Ronnie tilts their head up to look at Harvey. “Thank you.”

Harvey smiles, then he looks up at the sky. “It’s about to get dark.”

“Right, I should get goi—”

“Would you like to come home with me?”

“Huh,” Ronnie blinks, blushing a bit. 

“Oh, dear, I mean—! N-no unsaid things here, promise,” Harvey says, eyes a bit wide, face a bit flushed. He relaxes though as he says, “I was just wondering if you’d want to hang out a bit longer at my place?”

The sunset is gentle and warm, a prelude for the coming summer, and Ronnie can feel the same warmth in their chest.

“I’d love that,” Ronnie says.

Ronnie and Harvey help clean up the event’s setup, but once everything is in order and everybody else is on their way to their respective homes, Ronnie helps Harvey up onto Orchard and together they ride out to the clinic. After setting setting up Orchard under the little awning of the back entrance to the clinic, Ronnie and Harvey go up to Harvey’s apartment where Harvey opens a bottle of wine for them both. They sit on the couch together, talking and drinking and melting into one another. 

They talk about music; Harvey likes jazz and Ronnie likes sexy girl pop, something that makes Harvey laugh when they say it. Despite the dissonance in their tastes, Ronnie asks Harvey to put on some music he likes, and the rest of their words dance around along with Ella Fitzgerald’s crooning voice. They talk about books; Harvey likes autobiographies and medical journals but he also has a secret love for high fantasy, something Ronnie agrees very, very much with. They talk about funny high school stories; Harvey had once gotten hit in the face with a frisbee three times in under five minutes and Ronnie once made somebody cry in a debate. 

By the time they’re talking about favorite verbs, of all things, Ronnie realizes a few things. They realize that the both of their positions on the couch have changed from sitting next to each other to straight up just leaning on one another comfortably. They realize that the bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of them both is empty. And they realize that they and Harvey are most probably both on the wrong side of tipsy. 

“I have been monitoring the drinking situation very carefully,” Ronnie says slowly. Right now, they are talking much, much slower than they normally do. “And I think...we are drunk.”

“I am a doctor!” Harvey raises his hand, talking a little louder than he normally does. “And I can confidently say that. We are absolutely drunk.”

“I’m a total lightweight, Doc.” Ronnie giggles, hugging Harvey’s arm. “I am so going to have a hangover tomorrow.”

“Had plans?”

“Was gonna go to the…” Ronnie scrunches their eyebrows up, trying to think of the word. “Place with many rocks.”

“Quarry?”

“Yeah, quarry. Wanted to collect more stone.”

Harvey raises his hand and then puts it down. “Stardew Valley doesn’t have a quarry.”

“Nah, there is one. North of town, east of the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“That’s a dead end. Bridge has been destroyed for...for a long time.”

“Not anymore,” Ronnie yawns, nuzzling Harvey’s arm. “Junimos fixed it.”

“Junimos?” Harvey leans his head to rest on Ronnie’s. Ronnie giggles again, feeling Harvey talk. “You’re a Dasoist?”

“No, I just. Help the Junimos sometimes.”

“What does mean?”

“They live in the Community Center,” Ronnie explains, trying to make their drunk brain make coherent words. “I leave ‘em stuff they want, like vegetables and fruits, and if I give ‘em enough, they reward me with stuff like this.”

Harvey hums. “Like bridges?”

“Like bridges.”

“Huh.”

“You don’t believe me, don’t you,” Ronnie pouts.

“I do, I just,” Harvey says, sounding inexplicably completely like he _does_ believe Ronnie. “What do they do with the vegetables and fruits?”

“Eat them?” Ronnie shrugs. “I’m more concerned with what they do with the money.”

“Money?”

“Yeah. They want money.”

“What for?”

“Stocks?”

“Huh,” Harvey says, and Ronnie looks up to see him with a thoughtful expression. “Fascinating.”

“You really believe me,” Ronnie says. They don’t ask, they say this as a fact. Harvey believes them. “You don’t think I’m crazy, you think I’m actually saying the truth. How?”

Harvey shrugs, a crooked smile on his face. “I don’t believe you’d ever lie to me.”

“Aw, Doc,” Ronnie snuggles Harvey’s arm again.

Harvey laughs, and when he settles down, he says, “I’m not religious, but...I guess you could say I’m spiritual, in some sense.”

“What does that mean?”

“I believe in the soul,” Harvey says, voice sounding a little far away. “I believe when somebody dies, there’s some kind of energy that needs to go somewhere. I believe that there’s always been something about Stardew Valley that made me wonder, sometimes, about certain things that are a little harder to explain with science.”

“I get the feeling,” Ronnie says. “Hey, Doc?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for believing in me.”

Harvey gently bonks his head against Ronnie’s, “It’s my pleasure. I may have more questions though, when I’m sober. And more panic.”

“Fair enough, though..” Ronnie yawns. “I don’t think I can ride back to the farm like this.”

“Please don’t,” Harvey says. “You can sleep on my bed, I can sleep here.”

“Why don’t...” Ronnie says slowly, about to propose a wonderful idea. “...we both just sleep here. I don’t want to move.”

Harvey sighs a soft laugh, “Our backs will hate us tomorrow.”

“That’s tomorrow’s problem,” Ronnie says as they settle against the warm side of Harvey’s body, already drifting out to sleep. “G’night, Doc.”

Ronnie thinks they feel Harvey turn and press a kiss onto the top of their head, but they can’t be sure. They are only awake enough to hear Harvey’s soft “Good night, Ronnie.”

And then they drift out to sleep.

And of course.

They dream.

-

Ronnie opens their eyes to them sitting in the grass. They are in a beautiful clearing, and Harvey is sleeping, his head pillowed on Ronnie’s lap. Ronnie looks down at his peaceful face and they smile.

When they look up, the trees are now closer. And Ronnie’s heart stops in their chest.

 _Oberon_.

“No,” Ronnie sets Harvey down and shields him from the trees which are starting to come closer and closer. “No, get away from him.”

 _Oberon, he is a part of our plans_. The spectral voice rumbles, and from the trees, the roots begin to crawl towards the both of them.

“He has nothing to do with this, leave him alone!”

 _We don’t wish to hurt him, Oberon_. The voice says, and the roots begin to reach out for Harvey, curling around his ankles

“I don’t care! He matters to me and I don’t want you messing with him like how you’re messing with me!” Ronnie grits their teeth as they try to pull Harvey away from the roots, but there’s no hope. Ronnie just holds Harvey’s terrifyingly limp body as close as they can to themself, and they fruitlessly kick at the approaching roots.

_He will help you be with us, Oberon._

“Get away from him!” Ronnie cries as the roots begin to pull Harvey away.

_He will help you come home._

Ronnie claws their way through the roots, trying to get ahold of Harvey as he’s taken down down down, and Ronnie screams. 

“ _He **is** my home!_”

-

Ronnie wakes with a ragged gasp, and immediately, Harvey is there, holding Ronnie close. 

“Ronnie? Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay” Harvey rubs Ronnie’s shoulder, trying to calm them down. Their breathing is labored and they realize that there are tears streaming down their face. “You were having a nightmare, but you’re okay now.”

“They want you,” Ronnie says, feeling dread well up in their throat. They hold onto Harvey, clutching at his coat, as they cry. “They want you, they want to take you, and I don’t know how to—I can’t let them have you—I—I—”

“Shh, shhhhh,” Harvey gathers Ronnie closer, letting them lean against his chest. “Talk later, breathe now. In and out, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”

Ronnie breathes in and out, trying their best to follow Harvey’s own breathing, trying to calm down, trying not to think about the image of the forest eating Harvey up, never to be seen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im [actualbird](http://actualbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!!!


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